The Boy in the Dress

Billy Kennedy (Actor) .. Dennis

David Walliams (Actor) .. Referee

Born: August 20, 1971 in Nork, Surrey

Best Known For: Little Britain.

Early-life: Born David Edward Williams in Merton, Greater London on August 20, 1971, to father Peter, a London Transport engineer, and mother Kathleen, a lab technician. He was educated at Collingwood Primary School and Reigate Grammar School. He showed a flair for performance and became a member of the National Youth Theatre, which is where he met Matt Lucas. Walliams then studied drama at the University of Bristol. He changed his name when he joined Equity, as there was already a member named David Williams.

Career: Walliams' TV debut came in Sky One's Games World in 1993. In 1995 he and Lucas teamed up for the first of three shows at the Edinburgh Festival. They also made Rock Profiles for UKTV, in which they parodied famous musicians. But it was Little Britain that made them stars in 2003; they followed it up with Come Fly with Me. Walliams has also appeared in films such as Run, Fatboy, Run, Dinner for Schmucks and The Look of Love, and on stage in No Man's Land. He's swum the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar with James Cracknell and a 140-mile stretch of the River Thames, all in aid of Sport Relief. Walliams joined the judging panel of Britain's Got Talent in 2012, and is the executive producer and star of the Agatha Christie adaptation Partners in Crime.

Quote: "I'm terribly attention-seeking. It's very different once you get all this attention, though. Because then you want to control it. And you can't, exactly."

Trivia: He has written several best-selling children's books.

Jennifer Saunders (Actor) .. Miss Windsor

Born: July 06, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire

Best Known For: Absolutely Fabulous.

Early-life: Born Jennifer Jane Saunders on July 6, 1958, in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. Her father was in the RAF and she briefly spent time on the same forces camp as her future comedy partner Dawn French, but the pair never met as children. Instead, they got to know each other while attending London's Central School of Speech and Drama in 1977, where they were both on a teaching training course. They later teamed up with Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Alexei Sayle and Peter Richardson to create the The Comic Strip Presents series.

Career: Appearances in The Young Ones, Girls on Top and Happy Families followed, but it was the sketch show French and Saunders that propelled her to fame. One short skit in the series became the basis for Absolutely Fabulous. The sitcom's phenomenal global success opened new doors, and helped land Jennifer roles in the movies In the Bleak Midwinter, Spice World and Fanny and Elvis. She also voiced a not-so-good fairy godmother in hit animation Shrek 2 and stars in the BBC's Blandings. As well as the film and TV work, she has long been an active participant in the charity Comic Relief, alongside her on-screen partner Dawn French, and regularly takes part in the telethon events. We've also seen her reunited with her old pal in Jam & Jerusalem, which she wrote.

Quote: "It seems you can take a picture on your mobile and it can be on the front page of a celebrity mag the next day. It's a kind of madness."

Trivia: Married fellow Comic Strip star Adrian Edmondson in 1985. They have three daughters - Beattie, Ella and Freya. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and is now in remission. Her autobiography, Bonkers: My Life in Laughs, was published in 2013.

James Buckley (Actor) .. Mr Norris

Born: August 14, 1987 in Croydon

Best Known For: Playing Jay Cartwright in The Inbetweeners and a young Del Boy Trotter in Rock & Chips.

Early-life: James Patrick Buckley was born in Croydon on August 14, 1987. At the age of two, he moved with his family to Dagenham. He began going to a stage school at weekends from the age of seven. At the age of 11, he landed his first professional acting jobs in West End shows Whistle Down the Wind and Les Miserables.

Career: Buckley's big break came in 2008 when he was cast in the role of Jay Cartwright in E4 comedy The Inbetweeners alongside Simon Bird, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas. Three series were followed by two hugely successful spin-off movies. He has also played a young Del Boy Trotter in BBC comedy drama Rock & Chips, and Mr Norris in the TV movie The Boy in the Dress.

Quote: On The Inbetweeners: "As soon as we're all together we're juvenile."

Trivia: He is heavily in demand as a voiceover artist for commercials. In 2012, he made his directorial debut when he directed a music video for Essex band The Milk.

Meera Syal (Actor) .. Jaspreet

Born: June 26, 1961 in Essington, near Wolverhampton

Best Known For: Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at Number 42.

Early-life: Born Feroza Syal on June 27, 1961, in Essington, a mining village near Wolverhampton. Her parents had moved there from India a year earlier. A tomboy as a child, she did well at school and later gained a double first in English and Drama at Manchester University. Her play, One of Us, won a trophy at the National Student Drama Awards. A theatre director spotted her in it at the Edinburgh Festival and she was offered her first professional job.

Career: Syal spent seven years at the Royal Court Theatre before returning to writing and working on several BBC series. Her big break came when she penned acclaimed movie Bhaji on the Beach. Amid acting in series such as Kinsey and Holding On, she formed the Goodness Gracious Me team with friends, and their radio show went on to become a huge TV hit. Her star shined more brightly when she played grandmother Ummi in spoof chat show The Kumars at Number 42. She continues to work on stage and screen, making appearances in Doctor Who, Beautiful People and Holby City.

Quote: "A lot of old Asian men don't like me very much. They throw tomatoes at me in Tesco."

Trivia: Syal's written the novels Anita and Me and Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee (both of which have been adapted for either film or TV) plus the story for West End musical Bombay Dreams.

Steve Speirs (Actor) .. Dad

Tim McInnerny (Actor) .. Mr Hawthorn

Born: September 18, 1956 in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport

Best Known For: Paying Captain Darling and Percy in Blackadder

Early-life: McInnerny was born in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, in 1956, and educated at Marling School, Stroud, and Wadham College, Oxford. After graduating in 1979 he set about becoming a serious actor and joined several drama companies. His big break came when he was in the original production of Pravda with Anthony Hopkins, and on TV in Edge of Darkness (1985) where he played a revolutionary socialist.

Career: After several well-received theatre roles he was cast as Lord Percy in Blackadder and has been linked to the comedy masterpiece ever since. Subsequent hits include Wetherby (1985), Erik the Viking (1989), a film production of Shakespeare's Richard III (1995), FairyTale: A True Story (1997), Notting Hill (1999), 102 Dalmatians (2000), The Emperor's New Clothes (2001), and Severance (2006). TV hits include Spooks and Trial and Retribution. He also played Dr Frank-N-Furter in the 1990 West End production of The Rocky Horror Show.

Quote: "Blackadder was such good fun, but it was just six weeks' work once every two years."

Harish Patel (Actor) .. Raj

Kate Moss (Actor) .. Herself

Born: January 16, 1974 in Croydon, Surrey

Best Known For: Her catwalk appearances.

Early-life: Born Katherine Ann Moss on January 16, 1974, in Croydon, Surrey. Her modelling career began at age 14 after she was spotted by Sarah Doukas of the Storm agency while at JFK airport with her family who were on their way home from a holiday in the Bahamas. She was subsequently signed by Storm's London office, Women in New York and Marilyn in Milan. First appeared in the UK press on the cover of The Face magazine.

Career: Moss quickly became the Nineties 'It' girl, who featured in such publications as Harper's Bazaar, Arena, Vogue and Elle. Her waif-like appearance is believed to have begun the controversial trend for superthin models. She's also done catwalk work for Versace and Chanel and appeared in music videos for such diverse artists as Johnny Cash, Elton John, the White Stripes and Primal Scream. Moss has dabbled in acting, appearing in Blackadder Back and Forth and as herself in several episodes of French and Saunders.

Quote: "I feel like I'm being judged a lot of the time. You become really self-conscious."

Trivia: She supports the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Felicity Montagu (Actor) .. Miss Price

Temi Orelaja (Actor) .. Lisa

Aaron Chawla (Actor) .. Darvesh

Oliver Barry-Brook (Actor) .. John

Sonny Ashbourne Serkis (Actor) .. Gareth

Rosheen Hinze (Actor) .. Cherise

Emma Cooke (Actor) .. Mum

Gary Lineker (Actor) .. Himself

Born: November 30, 1960 in Leicester

Best Known For: Being an England football hero, a TV pundit and crisps promoter.

Early-life: Born Gary Winston Lineker on November 30, 1960, in Leicester, where his parents were greengrocers. He has a younger brother, Wayne, who is a member of The Only Way Is Essex cast. Gary's final report after leaving the local grammar school with just four O-levels said: "Must devote less of his time to sport if he wants to be a success." After ditching cricket to concentrate on football, he achieved his childhood dream of playing for Leicester City when he signed for them as a teenager.

Career: After making his name as a free-scoring striker with Leicester, he moved to Everton. He enjoyed phenomenal success in Mexico during the 1986 World Cup, winning the Golden Boot as top scorer. After that, Lineker signed for Barcelona, returned to England to play with Tottenham Hotspur three years later, and finished his career in Japan with Grampus 8 in 1994. He was never booked or sent off, won 80 caps for England, and is the country's second highest scorer after Bobby Charlton. He now presents Match of the Day, and has built a reputation as a reliable TV regular, also fronting programmes during the Olympics and for Al Jazeera Sports and the NBC Sports Network.

Quote: "Football is a game for 22 people that run around, play the ball, one referee who makes a slew of mistakes, and in the end Germany always win."

Trivia: Lineker has been fronting light-hearted adverts for Walkers Crisps since 1995.

Kevin Cecil (Writer)

Andy Riley (Writer)

Matt Lipsey (Director)

Jo Sargent (Producer)

Mark Freeland (Executive producer)

5:55 pm - 6:58 pm, Sunday, December 21 on CBBC HD (203)

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